5-Year-Old Dad Save
Location: Palm Desert, California Date: October 17, 1990 Story David Cresson had sustained a head injury which was nearly fatal three years ago, but his daughter, Kimberly, knew about his handicap and she was like a second mind to him and never turns it off. "When she goes for walks with him, she tells him how close they are and how to get home if they're lost," says Kimberly's mother, Barbara. On the afternoon of October 17, 1990, David had picked up Kimberly from the bus stop and was looking after her. He was washing the dishes and she was coloring while watching TV when she asked him to get her a drink of water. All of a sudden, he started shaking violently and fell on the floor. When Kimberly saw David lying on the floor, she was real scared and called 911. Her call was answered by Riverside County dispatcher Dan Cline. He was confused on what she initially said, but he heard "my dad just fell down on the tile" from her. He also asked if her dad was hurt and she didn't know. When he asked if her dad could speak to her she replied no. He asked if her dad asked her to call for help. He recognized immediately that it was a young child, and with the emotion of her on the verge of tears, he immediately knew right away that it was a very serious call. Dan also asked Kimberly if she was all by herself to which she was. He asked what her name was and she replied "Kimberly Cresson". He told her that they would be sending help to her immediately, and to stay on the phone with him. He also asked how old she was and she replied "5". She also told him that she has a babysitter that lives just around the corner. He said, "But the babysitter's not with you?" and she said no. He felt that about her being only 5 years old and alone her whole world had crashed down on her, and she had nobody to turn to except the telephone to talk with him. Riverside County Fire Department units were dispatched to the emergency with both EMTs, along with paramedics John Nelson and Gad Smith. "We had very little to go by. All we were able to get at that point of time from the little girl that her father collapsed, and she did not know what was wrong with him. It was one of those unique calls that you get this sixth sense that tells you that you may not be able to save this patient," said Gad. Dan told Kimberly that they were sending help to her and asked if there was any blood coming from David's head, but there was none. He was just sleeping there on the floor. Dan asked her if she could see him now and she said yes. Dan also asked her if he was lying on his back and looking up at the roof and she also said yes. She told Dan that he was wiggling his head and that his eyes were open. Dan thought that he was suffering a heart attack at first and the questions he had asked Kimberly were to establish the level of consciousness that he had. Kimberly worried that David wouldn't be able to talk to them. She then saw that bubbles was coming out of his mouth. When she told Dan about that, he said the description gave him kind of a photograph of what was going on with David. "When she told me that bubbles were coming out of his mouth, that certainly isn't a sign of normal breathing," Dan explained. He knew based upon the situation that was happening that they had a serious problem. He told Kimberly to tell David that the firefighters were coming to help and that he'd hear her, but he may not be able to talk. After Kimberly told David, Dan asked her if he was breathing, and she told him that his stomach was wiggling which he was very happy to hear because he thought that David hurt his head really bad. Dan thought he heard a voice in the background and asked Kimberly if there was anybody else there with her now to which she said no. He also asked her if somebody lived next door to which she said yes. "Kimberly, come on listen to me now, listen to me, I'm going to help you now," said Dan. From her previous reply to the question he had asked her, he told her to go next door, tell her neighbor what happened, and come back and talk on the phone with him. "But what do I say to him?" said a scared Kimberly, Dan told her to tell him that David was hurt and that the dispatcher was on the phone. Dan wanted to talk to somebody else, and he assured her that he would stay on the phone. "I asked Kimberly to go outside because it gives her something to do. If Kimberly were hysterical and out of control, and if her father could sense that, he could hear it and that would perhaps affect his condition," recalled Dan. The Riverside County Fire Department EMTs arrived within 5 minutes. Kimberly told them that David was on the kitchen floor, bleeding, and still seizing. Dan had stayed on the line and hung up after one of the firefighters told them they would take over. "I have a 5-year-old, and the thoughts going through my mind at the time were that it would be the worst moment of their little lives, and that's what I felt Kimberly was going through," Dan recalled. Paramedics Nelson and Smith arrived with the ambulance less than a minute later. Gad recalled as soon as they got to the scene, the engineer informed them that they had a very critical patient laying on the floor, he was not breathing at the time, he had been going through a severe seizure even for him and John as paramedics, said it was a very traumatic experience for them to visualize, and that they were dealing with a victim that was in dire need of immediate intervention. "We tried to find out where her mother worked. Perhaps she could give us some valuable medical information about this man's condition," said John. Kimberly told him how he could reach Barbara at work and when he did, he told her what had happened to David. "She was actually very hysterical, but she relayed to us that he had a medical history of having an anomaly of the brain that was causing him to seize," said John. Barbara rushed into the house and Kimberly ran into her arms crying. "I talked to the neurologist that night and he explained to me that David had just suffered a grand mal seizure and that he was unconscious, but the vital signs were good," said Barbara. David was placed on a new medication to control his seizures and was released after four days in the hospital. "That phone call that she made saved my life that day," said David. After the incident, Kimberly wrote a thank you note to Dan Cline. Two months later, she finally got to meet him and his family. He then asked her how she knew who to call for help. "It was then that I learned that Kimberly had a telephone cut out that she made in preschool and it was made to teach the children to call 911," said Dan. Category:1990 Category:California Category:Kid Heroes Category:Seizures